Department store hopes redesign will lure younger consumers who want to try products before they buy

Macy's is giving makeovers to the beauty departments at its flagship stores on State Street and at Herald Square in New York City, aiming to make cosmetics more accessible to shoppers who want to try products before they buy.

In doing so, the department store is taking a cue from two fast-growing beauty retailers, Bolingbrook-based Ulta Beauty and Sephora.

Gone at State Street are the traditional makeup counters and tall, dark-wood shelving. The new look boasts well-lit, sleekly designed eye-level tables designed to encourage consumers to touch, test and buy the latest blushes, skin creams and mascaras.

The retailer also has added a section known as "Impulse Beauty," with 13 new hair, skin and niche beauty brands aimed at younger, trendier consumers.

For years, cosmetics sellers stood on one side of the counter, customers on the other. The new look is all about interaction, Macy's officials say.

"You used to walk up to the Clinique counter and they'd say, 'How can I help you?' Now you can look through without the pressure," said Macy's spokeswoman Lauren Rapisand.

The change in design doesn't mean sales associates have disappeared. They are just directed to provide advice and assistance if the customer wants it. At Clinique, shoppers are encouraged to wear bracelets that convey their status: "In a hurry," "In need of help," or "Just browsing."

The idea is to allow customers to move through the store and experience cosmetics as they want — not as the retailer wants, said Patrick Dalessandro, director of Retail Strategy at JGA, a Southfield, Mich.-based brand strategy and design firm.

Consumers are coming to expect cosmetics shopping to be a more self-serve, user-friendly experience, where the products are out for the touching and testing and beauty advisers are on hand for a quick makeover or consultation — but only if the shopper wants it. That's the general model employed by Ulta and Sephora.

"The squeeze is coming from the consumer," Dalessandro said. "Macy's is recognizing that in order for them to evolve, they need to be able to provide and quite frankly go beyond consumers' expectations."

Macy's is trying to protect its position in the booming high-end cosmetics market, which has an annual growth rate of about 3 to 4 percent. Mass-market beauty sellers are growing at a much slower rate of about 1 to 2 percent annually, according to Euromonitor International.

As a result, retail watchers say Macy's move probably will be rolled out more widely across the industry. Macy's said it will continue revamping beauty departments across the country, but declined to disclose how many or the timeline for renovations.

In recent years, the retailer has added its Edge Beauty shops, aimed at younger consumers, and redone its upscale beauty counters to make them more welcoming to shoppers. "We are basically knocking down the barriers between our cosmetic professionals and the customer," Bull said.

Industry insiders say the department stores need to react. A survey last year by Port Washington, N.Y.-based market research firm NPD Group, found that 71 percent of high-end beauty consumers bought products at specialty stores, while 36 percent shopped at department stores.

Sephora, which opened its first U.S. store in 1998, operates 300 stores in North America and is owned by international luxury giant LVMH. Ulta, which has a long-term plan to operate 1,500 stores in the U.S., operates 609 stores in 46 states and reported yearly sales that climbed 30 percent to $2.2 billion in 2012 and profits that rose 43 percent to $173 million.

Macy's doesn't break out cosmetics sales.

"One of the challenges department stores have had for many years is attracting young consumers," said Hana Ben-Shabat, a partner at management consulting firm A.T. Kearney in New York. "To bring (them) in, they have to do something different."